Devil’s Eye, Settlement Essay 10/24/12

        After the cataclysmic event that almost eliminated the entire world’s population it was figured that the world’s population was left at at an estimated triple digit number, lightly scattered across the globe.  Think of this as opposed to the almost 7,000,000,000 thickly spread across the Earth back before the incident.  The only option was to start over.  Luckily there were remnants of the modern world that would benefit in the rehabilitation of planet earth and the human population.  But we had to make it work.
My company and I (a solemn group of less than 30) were, as if by fate, blown by storms to a large island that was once called Tasmania.  A large island for a small population just south of the better known country/continent once called Australia.  When we first arrived we had been half starved and dehydrated.  We had set off from the resource exhausted Australia in hopes of finding better land and were coming back unsuccessful when we found ‘Tasmania’.  It had thick vegetation where we washed up, so we went further in, searching for fresh water, hoping for at least a lake or river.  What we found was much, much better.  It was a network of freshwater lakes, rivers, and large ponds that, after exploring the island later, seemed to be all over.  After refreshing ourselves, we had explored more and discovered evidence of late civilization.  Signs said it was once called Hobart.  It was the largest city on the island.  Around the island we found extensive mineral mines, including coal, iron, gold, silver, copper, and many, many others.  We found overgrown farms thriving without the aid of humans in the island’s naturally enriched soil.  Elsewhere we found cows that survived the incident living on a foodless farm.  We moved them to a new field to live until the old one grew back.  Even more farms were found that seemed to have been growing poppies (who knows why) and fruit trees.  Fruit!  We would not be going without food in our new home.
Back on Australia we had been narrowly avoiding our warring neighbor-towns.  They had clashed over anything and everything in the desolate desert that is Australia.  It was only a matter of time before one beat the other and they instead came after us.  We had left when we realized that.  On our new island we were lost to the killers back in Australia, but we set up defenses and escape plans anyways.   The thick jungles were perfect for hiding, if necessary (not to mention the empty city), and so that plan was always available.  But many people wanted to be able to be on the offensive.  Using the forests and mineral deposits we were able to put up watch towers and battle stations about the island.  Most areas were rocky, though and did not need our help.  Sure enough, we saw those neighboring towns searching for us on scouting trips back to Australia.  We had hoped to find a new settlement we could trade with.  We prayed we would find one elsewhere, as we had heard of other survivors far off in the world.  Overall, the island is quite nice for trade.  Hobart was a port city, so we had that pre-built.  Aside from that, we have easy access to the ocean and of course the strait that separates us from Australia would be of use.  The island is relatively flat, so we have no difficulty transporting things across the island.  Our position on the globe, according to old maps, gives us easy access to few places.  The famed “North America” is an enormous distance away.  Asia, the once monstrous country, it seems, is also very far away.  Those are the best bets for more civilization.  The closest landmass, other than Australia, is a long island once called New Zealand.  That was where we had been headed when the storms hit and we landed in ‘Tasmania’.  Hopefully as we improve our technologies we can get a boat to travel out there and possibly found a good trading companion.  In the future our little island has the potential to grow to a main port-city.
The climate of the island is very moderate.  There are no extremes (no cold winter, no hot summer) but a mild change in the overall temperature.  So far we have not experienced a dry season which we have deemed very unlikely.  According to some old books, our country is said to have been an Oceanic or Marine West Coast climate.  The description matches very well with what we have experienced.  It rains year-round about the same amount constantly.  The constant rain keeps the soil moist and the trees prevent large mud slides.  Also, the rain waters plants and keeps the fruit trees and other crops we have started growing well nourished.
Since we arrived on the island, we have truly started a civilization.  A strange little group of people arrived a long time ago calling the place ‘Satan’s Eye’.  It gradually became ‘Devil’s Eye’ which for some reason caught on.  Now it is somewhat official, as we use it on our signs.  Besides gaining a name, the population has exploded within the last several decades.  People began pouring in after we accepted that strange group that gave us our name.  The last population count was two years ago, leaving us at just under 500,000 people, about the same as Tasmania was before the incident.  Old religions and languages surfaced and now our island is extremely diverse.  While most went back to the very old religions under the basic Christian belief system, many went to their largest branch: the Eastern Orthodox Church (according to old records).  From what we found, there were many Buddhists and Muslims, too.  The smallest portion of the population is divided into many other religions.  Luckily, we have not seen a rising of the worshippers of Satan’s Eye.  Even more surprisingly, various languages have appeared, too.  English is the primary language, taught to all children.  However, other languages include Chinese, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Vietnamese, and many lesser known.  There are dozens of dialects of each of the languages, too.  We have formed a simple government.  After looking through many old books we discovered was a commonwealth of Australia.  Officially, their government was a ‘Federal parliamentary democracy and a commonwealth realm.’  Its’ laws were based on an “English Model,” according to old books.  Technically, the Australians/Tasmanians were still obeying the ‘Queen’ (Queen Elizabeth II), but more independently.  How this worked with so much distance between them is beyond me.  Perhaps it has to do with the devices called telephones.
According to papers found in an old building, Tasmania had a 99% literacy rate at the time of the incident.  Presumably, we have that or higher, not counting newborn babies and illiterate toddlers (All learn basics by the time they are three (3)).  We work hard to teach everyone the ways of the past; history, arithmetic, and the language arts.  Science is still debatable, as no one quite understands it all.  We believe we do not have everything there is to know about it, even though it was once taught in the schools on Tasmania.  The same papers revealed that we had a low infant mortality rate.  This seems to be a very good thing and so far we have not had a large amount of babies dead at birth, and children seem to be living longer than they did back when this began.  Tasmania also had high life expectancy.  Currently, our elderly usually die under the age of 70.  The oldest is 86, and everyone expects him to be gone soon enough.  While the life expectancy seems to be low currently, we are sure it will go up as we fill in the missing pieces of the science of medicine.  The life expectancy seemed to go down after the incident but went up and has been at about 65-70 for a very long time.  At the moment, almost everyone lives in the remains of Hobart on the South-East coast.  Before the incident Tasmania had very few towns other than Hobart.  Most remain uninhabited, but a couple of been expanded, such as Queenstown, Smithton and several along the northern coast, facing Australia and the strait (Bass Strait).  Then there are the people that live out on farms.
As mentioned before, we were a ‘Federal Parliamentary Democracy/Commonwealth Realm.’  Now we are a sort of Democratic Republic working on an official constitution.  In the past, Tasmania did not have its’ own government, but was a commonwealth of Australia, which in turn was a commonwealth of England.  All of them following English laws.  That seems unfortunately precarious.  Now we must form a better government.  One that can govern its’ people familiarly and without being too controlling.  The economy of Tasmania was worse.  It was criticized as being too reliant on Australia.  Now we have no one to rely upon and must fend for ourselves in a dangerous new world.  In the past Tasmania was just a manufacturer of good for Australia, basically getting a salary to live on from them.  We hope to improve the government and economy to become a self-reliant, perfectly able country.
Devil’s Eye: the settlement that started out as a melancholy group of 28 has thrived and flourished over the last six (6) decades.  Ten (10) years spent as the leaders and fifty more spent cultivating and nurturing this fledgling country.  Laughs and tears and blood have been shared along the way.  I remember when a tropical storm hit after we had been putting off fortifying our shelters.  That was way back when.  Back at the beginning.  And yet, us, the slackers, we did everything we could to set this country up for the future.  We set foundations for a new government, economy, and education.  We rebuilt the cities and roads.  We even began an industrial revolution, as I believe it is called.  So far, our settlement has thrived and deserves to be called a country in this horror that is our world, nowadays.  I am the last remaining of the original 28 at 86 years of age, and I will see my country off with its’ shoes on both feet and the knowledge to keep them on the right path.